This book is concerned with the current conceptual and policy debate on the new philanthropy and social justice that has been prompted by increases in the flow of giving for poverty reduction. The theoretical underpinning of mainstream philanthropy entails the idea that involving non-state actors such as philanthropists and civil society organisations in social policy issues can lead to more effective outcomes through a ‘sharing of responsibilities’. The objective of the book is to consider the potential of philanthropy for social transformation. It takes a critical view of the prevailing conceptualisation in which philanthropy is considered to be an integral part of the neoliberal strategy to disperse state responsibilities in line with declining social expenditure.

Globalisation is having a profound impact on how philanthropy interfaces with social protection and poverty reduction. A new form of philanthropy has emerged on the back of neoliberal economic globalisation which has encouraged wealth concentration in the hands of a few ‘super-rich’ individuals and families emanating from both the global south and the global north. Over the last two decades individual capitalists and private corporations have become increasingly involved in philanthropy, often through the establishment of foundations targeted at helping to reduce social problems such as poverty, disease and food security. These new structures of philanthropy are considered unique in imbuing business principles into the non-profit sector to support social transformation, as reflected in descriptors such as ‘venture philanthropy’ (Letts et al, 1997), ‘entrepreneurial philanthropy’ (Harvey et al, 2011), ‘strategic philanthropy’ (Sandfort, 2008), ‘philanthrocapitalism’ (Bishop & Green, 2008), and ‘capitalist philanthropy’ (Morvaridi, 2012). Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are perhaps the most well-known new philanthropists, between them having donated more than US$62 billion to poverty reduction objectives. Azim Premji, an Indian software billionaire, has devoted US$2 billion to an endowment fund for education. Other philanthropic individuals, whose wealth comes from entrepreneurial activity, include the Hariri family (Lebanon); the Tata family (India); Carlos Slim Helú (Mexico); Miloud Chaabi (Morocco); Patrice Motsepe (South Africa); the Sabanci family (Turkey); Peter Kellner (Czech Republic); Lee Kun-hee (South Korea), eBay founder Pierre Omidyar (USA) and Richard Branson (UK), to name just a few.